


Play Ball

by bookworm03



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Baseball, F/M, First Crush, Softball, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-07-11
Packaged: 2018-06-08 20:08:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6871537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm03/pseuds/bookworm03
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leslie's night had started in a seriously crappy way, and now she was standing in front of someone she hadn't seen in a really long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Present

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is an AU I have been teasing for a little while. I hope it is lots of fun and you guys enjoy it! I'm not sure how long it will be at this point, but I've got a pretty solid start on it so I'm hoping for weekly updates. 
> 
> Comments and kudos and reblogs and any and all of those things are so, so, so wonderful and I thank you in advance for taking the time to leave me some. :)

“Rough night, Leslie?”

Leslie groaned and dropped her head against the sticky bar top. _What Ales You_ was packed to the brim with people taking in various sporting events and pretty girls socializing together, and Leslie was sort of wishing she could crawl into a hole.

“The roughest,” she admitted. Not that she particularly cared if stupid jerks were going to stand her up when they said she “seemed great”....but she’d left work _early_ (on time) to go home and get ready for their date which he was _really looking forward to_ (probably only asked her on to distract her while his friend hit on Ann). She’d plucked and shaved and carefully applied evening makeup like Ann had the night before and okay, her eyes looked a little racoony if you asked her, but the point was she _tried_.

And her dress was black with sensibly thick straps and a modest v-neck, but...snug.

It was perfectly thought out first date attire.

She didn’t always do well on first dates, but Ann had coached her and she was ready and raring to go.

Until he never showed.

And a little, tiny part of her wanted to cry for no reason.

For no reason other than as usual, she put all the effort in and somebody else put in none. Stupid Patrick couldn’t even put in enough effort to call her and let her know he couldn’t make it.

A cotton candy martini was placed in front of her and the bartender, Fred, who she’d become fast friends with, winked. “On the house.” 

There were so many nice people in Pawnee, how come she only tried to date the jerks?

*****

She was on her third cotton candy martini, counter vibrating with the heavy base emanating from the speakers, when a voice interrupted her pity party.

“Excuse me? Uh, Leslie Knope?”

Leslie started to say yes, shifting to see if Patrick had maybe decided to come and take her out anyway because he felt bad or something (not that she wanted her date to show up because he felt sorry for her), when warm brown eyes she knew very, very well, met hers. Her mouth went dry and her nose crinkled as she took in his more mature face and sharp jawline.

Ben Wyatt.

Her heart instantly started skipping beats as Leslie struggled to find her words. Ben Wyatt studied her uncertainly.

“You...uh...hey,” he stepped around the corner of the bar and gave a little shrug that, again, made Leslie’s pulse race.. His arms sort of reached out and Leslie jumped up more quickly than wise, falling into his embrace and using him more as a support pillar than greeting him with hug. Ben chuckled in a low, sexy way that brought back a lot, and settled Leslie back on her stool.

Which she promptly slipped off of.

_Holy crap, it was Ben Wyatt._

“You are...you look great.”

She didn’t. She couldn’t. Her raccoon makeup was smeared, her face was red and blotchy and she kept rolling her ankles in high heels that were too big, toe-squishing, and not at all sensible.

And all this for a stupid man that wasn’t even the man in front of her right now.

Ben Wyatt’s hand stayed on her hip and he glanced at the bartender with a raised eyebrow. Fred shrugged and assured Ben he was keeping an eye on her, but Ben didn’t seem to believe him.

“Are you...okay?”

“I’m fan _tabulous_ , Coach Wyatt. How are…” his nose scrunched at the name. “Sorry, is that weird?”

He’d been her softball coach in high school. The teacher who’d been doing the girls’ team quit and it was either get someone outside of the education system to run the team or have no season. Leslie had given her mother a presentation on the importance of playing sports for young women and Marlene had assured her she’d _find someone_ the school board could approve.

Ben Wyatt was who she’d found, a year out of college and just trying to find a place to settle for a bit.

“No,” he clawed at his cheek in answer to her question, eyes sparkling. “Okay yes, it is weird, because that was a very long time ago and you...you are not seventeen anymore.”

Leslie might be kidding herself, but she swore his eyes raked over her as he swallowed audibly.

Probably not, though, he definitely was fussing over her like she was some drunk teenager who snuck into a bar accidentally.

“Can I...recommend a booth?”

The stool was seeming more precarious with each sip of martini, so Leslie grabbed her glass, sloshing it all over her hand as Ben guided her by the elbow to a quiet corner.

The leather squeaked as she slid into it and Ben half lifted her along as he climbed in beside her, a bottle of beer in front of him.

“I have not seen you since...a while.”

Since the regional championship game senior year. Since he’d hugged her super tightly after she helped turn a double play and clinched the win. Since he took them out for pizza and ruffled her hair like she was a child and he was an adult man with an adorable face and a butt so amazing her teammates would risk his wrath just to run behind him.

“Yes! It’s been...eons.”

“Eons,” his lips twitched in an obnoxious way that made her feel like she was burning up. It had done the same thing when she was seventeen. “How have you been?”

“I went to college and I was working doing community center events for a while and I just got hired for a new job in parks and recreation. My dream job.”

“Congratulations,” he reached for his beer and Leslie did the same for her drink. “But I thought your dream job was President?”

Leslie’s face flamed. He remembered that?

“Parks and recreation is a stepping stone to it.”

His mouth curled into a sexy smirk. Goddammit. He shouldn’t be allowed to do this to her so many years later.

“And are you still coaching, Coach Wyatt?”

He snorted into his drink, long fingers curling and uncurling around the neck of the bottle. Fuck, he had good hands and arms. Leslie remembered staring at them as he was drawing plays out and showing Cindy Miller how to grip the ball when she was pitching and…

“I think you can call me Ben now.”

“Right,” Leslie’s cheeks, if possible, burned even more. Here she was, out for drinks as an adult  with the sexiest former coach in the entire history of the world, and she couldn’t even think to call him by his first name.

And he smelled like cinnamon. He’d always smelled like cinnamon and he still did and it was doing something funny to her brain.

It was his cinnamon-smelling self’s fault, really. If he hadn’t smelled like cinnamon, all spicy and delicious, she’d probably be fine.

“And I’m not. Coaching. This new teacher at the high school almost made the national team and she volunteered to take over a year after you left. And work got crazy and stuff, and…” he licked his lips. “Did you keep playing?”

“Just...intramural in college. Nothing serious…”

She must’ve been slurring her words, because Ben edged her drink away. Leslie pouted.

“You’re still small.”

“You’re still bossy.”

Ben laughed and shrugged. “Do you...stay in touch with anyone from the team?”

“Ann,” she slapped the table for some reason. “Ann Perkins. She went to Michigan for college but she’s back in Pawnee now.”

“And how’s Ann these days?” 

“Still the most beautiful person in the history of the world and fighting off men with a wooden stick, unlike me.”

Okay, wow, where had that come from? Ben’s smile turned into a frown and Leslie heaved her shoulders.

“Sorry. I got stood up.”

“Oh…” he bit his lip. “I am...sorry to hear that,” he tapped his fingers again. “Well, not really that sorry. I mean, sorry you were going to go on a date with an idiot and he decided to be a jerk, but happy I get to talk to you now and...catch up!”

His sounded kind of strangled and Leslie turned a little more to face him.

“How have you been?”

“I’m working at City Hall, actually - ” Ben yelped when she shoved him so hard he fell backwards onto the bench. His eyes were wide as he came back, hair sticking up in odd places.

“Um...yes. At City Hall.”

“I’m going to be working at City Hall! What are you doing there?”

“Assistant City Manager.”

Just when she thought he couldn’t get sexier, his jaw got more defined, his hair got more wild and he took a job in local government.

“Why are you out all alone?” 

“I thought I’d stop for a beer and watch some of the Pacers game and then there was this cute girl at the bar and she seemed like she was having a kind of not great night, so I decided to hang around for a bit and see if she’d talk to me.”

Leslie spun back to the bar, confused.

“Where is she? Is she still here? Beeeeen,” she smacked his arm. “Why are you wasting time talking to me when there’s a…”

Leslie trailed off as she took in the look he was shooting her. Wait, did he... _did Ben Wyatt just call her cute?!?!_

“Wow, you are really drunk.”

“I’m not!”

“Uh huh,” he drained his bottle. “I’m getting another and I’m ordering fries; you’re cut off, Knope.”

Leslie started to tell him he wasn’t her coach anymore, but the protest fell in her throat with the way his dark eyes slanted down.

Crap, crap, crap, what was even happening right now?

She should probably call Ann and ask her.

*****

“So, was college all you thought it would be?”

Leslie didn’t know how to answer that. She pursed her lips thoughtfully and tried to smile.

“Yes and no,” she hesitated, reaching for a fry and running her tongue along the inside of her lips as Ben watched her, intently. She’d never seen him look at anyone like this before. He was both serious and thoughtful, and it made her stomach churn with butterflies.

Also, it felt really warm in there now.

“I think...it’s easy to get lost.”

Ben arched an eyebrow and heat coiled tightly in her belly and spread to the tips of her fingers.

She remembered this, remembered feeling this a long, long time ago and wishing there wasn’t eight years between them. Wishing someone would look at her the way Ben raked his eyes over the handful of age-appropriate women that came to their games.

Wishing someone would make her feel that specially with simply a glance.

“Well,” Ben finished his latest bottle of beer. “They’ll all regret losing sight of you when you’re the first female President of the United States.”

Her heart palpitations started again and she gulped.

Ben had definitely never looked at her like this before.

*****

Two hours after he cut Leslie off, he finally brought her another drink. It was just a screwdriver and didn’t have a fancy straw or three kinds of liquor, but it was nice and refreshing and went down easy.

Leslie asked Ben about his work and he admitted he had been at an accounting firm since she went to college and only just transferred over to a government job.

“I’d like to run for office again,” he stated. “Someday. So this seemed like the route to take.”

“You should!” she beamed. “You’d be great at it! You were a great coach.”

Ben smiled, softer and more hesitantly. “You say that now, but I remember how much you hated running those drills.”

“They were necessary and I knew that!”

“Of course they were. You just hated me for them.”

“I never hated you!” Leslie fired back. “Those other girls did, but they only hated you because they wanted to run behind you so they could stare at your butt. Whereas I was much more subtle about wanting stare at your butt...I mean! Wait, I mean, I _never_ wanted to stare at your butt! Or your face. Hey,” she whirled around frantically. “Do you hear that? Is there a bird in here?”  

Ben sort of smirked, but his cheeks also turned bright pink.

“Oh...uh...that’s...weird.”

“I never did it! I promise!” Leslie pushed her drink away and stumbled out of the booth, falling forward onto the table. “And I...I have to go to the whiz palace to whiz, so...be back in a jiff!”

She ran straight into the edge of another table and smashed her hip, hard. She yelped and swore as big hands closed around her sides.

“I guess you were too fast for that table, it didn’t have time to get out of the way. Must’ve been all those sprints we did.”

She turned in his arms and smacked his chest playfully. Ben laughed, but didn’t let her go.

“Leslie, it’s okay.”

“I thought you were cute!” she blurted out, every pore in her body sweating and her limbs trembling just a touch. She gulped and finally found his gaze.

“I did, I thought you were very cute! I had a big crush on you and I liked talking to you and your butt was amazing and the first time I had an orgasm I was picturing your face and...oh crap, I should not have said that. But I did...I wanted to make out with you very badly and - ”

She was cut off by his mouth in a kiss that was somehow gentle and persistent at the same time. His lips never parted, and he pulled back fairly quickly, but he was smiling a little and toying with a stray curl and now, all she could smell was cinnamon.

_Ben Wyatt just kissed her._

Where the heck was her dream journal when she needed it?

“Stop talking.”

“Okay,” she yanked him down and this time her mouth did open, her tongue sliding urgently as they groaned together. Ben backed up, and Leslie vaguely noted that the lights got dimmer and the music softer until her back was pressed up against some cool wood. Ben’s hand moved to her chin, tilting her jaw and devouring her lips with even more fervor, noses pushing together and fingers sliding through her hair.

Stale beer had never tasted so good.

“Ben,” he kissed down her cheek, to the spot where her throat met her jaw. His palms slid over her hips as he suckled gently and she sighed.

“I’m drunk.”

Ben’s lips released her skin and he nodded into her.

“Me too.”

They kissed again, but slower and softer, with lips smacking loudly.“I should take you home.”

 _NO_ her mind screamed. He couldn’t take her home. Her night had started as a total bust and ended with her making out with Ben Wyatt and they couldn’t break the spell so soon.

“It’s not that late.”

“It’s almost last call.”

Leslie blinked. Really? 

Dammit, she definitely couldn’t call Ann tonight.

“C-can...can I do that? Take you home?”

She’d never seen him stutter before, never seen him look anything but sure of himself and it was endearing. Leslie pushed her hands through her hair and let him kiss her again because it felt so nice.

“I’m living at my mom’s right now. Until I get…” she trailed off when she saw his eyes widen in horror.

“Oh, yeah, wow, I totally didn’t...I mean...you’re...this has been fun, a lot of fun, but I didn’t mean to...we are _really_ drunk.”

Every inch of Leslie seemed to deflate, but she nodded. They were really drunk and she definitely shouldn’t have sex with her old softball coach when she ran into him a decade later.

At least...well, wait maybe she should? When else would she get this chance?

Dammit, she really needed to call Ann.

It didn’t seem to matter though, because Ben was determined to take her home, apparently. Ten minutes later, held her hand as she teetered in her heels and made her way down the steps of the bar to the curb. He glanced around for a taxi, groaned when there were none to be found, and kissed her forehead, covering her with his coat before taking her hand back.

“We can walk to Main Street?”

Leslie agreed, even though her toes were pinching and she seemed to have developed an ungainly limp.

Ben lifted an eyebrow. “Uh, can you not walk in those things?” 

“I could when I started!”

He snorted and crouched down with a look over his shoulder.

“Hop on.”

A piggy back ride.

She was getting a piggy back ride.

They were supposed to maybe be having sex.

Son of a...

Ben still smelled like cinnamon as she pushed her face into his neck and his hands hooked under her thighs. He hefted her up and headed down the street.

God, this was so unsexy. For him, anyway. At least she was breathing him in.

“So, you had a crush on me?”

“Uh huh. But please forget the part about...”

Masturbating to the thought of him. He should forget that.

“You were always my favorite player.”

“Stoooop.”

“You were, I missed you when you left.”

“You did not.”

“I did,” he pinched her leg. “When you would help me get all the equipment and we’d talk about whatever book you were reading, and Ice Town...that was my favorite.”

Her breath hitched as Ben steered her right across Main Street and straight towards her neighborhood.

He remembered where she lived too.

The rest of the walk to her mother’s house was mostly silent, but Ben kept rubbing her legs and only grunted a little, and stopped to readjust once as she got heavy. The porch light was on, but the inside of the house was dark and Marlene’s car was in the driveway.

Ben set her down.

“I’m sorry your date didn’t show up. He’s a moron.”

Leslie stumbled to turn around and lean against a beam.

“I’m not.”

She bit her lip until Ben was kissing it again without any pretense. Her head was spinning, the lights around them blurring, and holding onto him was all she could do to stay upright. The night was ending and she really didn’t want it to. She wanted to stay out there, in the drizzle with increasingly frizzy hair, making out with him forever.

“Goodnight, Knope,” he finally pulled back with an adorable grin.

She exhaled and tried not to pout, moving towards the front door.

“Goodnight.”


	2. The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for reading and leaving kudos and comments! I'm so glad people are excited about this story :). 
> 
> This next chapter is a time jump, which will be happening throughout this entire fic. I hope you guys enjoy it! 
> 
> And as always, your kudos and comments and likes and reblogs and anything of the sort absolutely make my day. 
> 
> Enjoy!!

Clenching her thighs was all she could do to keep her knees from shaking. 

Her mother had found him, just like she’d promised. They’d been coachless and now they were not. He’d been screened by the police department and vetted by the school board and he was showing up for their first practice that afternoon.

Ben Wyatt. He ran for mayor of his hometown when he was eighteen. He was twenty-four now and sticking around Indiana and new to town and wanted some extracurriculars. He’d played baseball in high school, and…

Okay, eleven year old Leslie might have followed his campaign. It was the perfect distraction from the events of that year and Ben Wyatt was cute and smart and…

And now he was her baseball coach, apparently. Six years after getting impeached and bankrupting the town of Partridge.

“Did you meet him?” Ann whispered as Leslie tied her cleats and grabbed her glove. Every girl sitting in the circle had their eyes on her. Leslie shook her head quickly. Ann knew about his mayoral term, but Leslie wasn’t going to broadcast that to everyone else.

“No,” she admitted. “My mom did though and apparently he loves baseball and softball and he’s very...enthusiastic about coaching!”

Okay, Marlene hadn’t said as much, but what 20-something guy agrees to coach a high school softball team? A nice one, that was who. 

The sound of gravel crunching made all of them spin abruptly. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday and Leslie had to squint to make out the narrow frame. There stood a man, Benji Wyatt, with a slight build and sharp jawline. He was wearing trackpants and a Carleton College t-shirt. A pair of ray ban sunglasses hid his eyes from view. Leslie jumped up, dusting herself off quickly and hoping her shorts hadn’t ridden up to be indecently high.

“Hello! Welcome to the team and thank you for agreeing to take us on, I’m Leslie Knope and we’re very excited to get started.”

He clucked his tongue and his lips pursed.

“Right, well uh, I’m...Coach Wyatt, I guess, and we should probably start with a warm up. Why don’t we do a couple of laps around the field and then some stretches and we can...talk for a bit then?”

Nobody moved and he glanced around expectantly. One eyebrow arched and that seemed to be enough, though. Slowly, every member of the team go their feet and started walking to the periphery of the field. Ben Wyatt tossed his glove and clipboard onto the grass and gave a curt nod.

“So, uh...ten laps I guess and then we’ll start doing some drills.”

Ann nudged Leslie as they took off at an easy pace (because ten laps was a lot, nobody had ever made them run ten laps before) grinning at each other.

“He’s pretty cute,” Cindy Miller called. “Your mom found him, Leslie?” 

“Yes! She started asking around after I told her we needed a coach or we’d have to forfeit the season and he played or something and is new to town and…I didn’t do a background check or anything but I’m sure she did!”

“Does he not have better things to be doing than coaching softball?” Lindsay asked, her tone biting as they rounded the first corner. Leslie shot the back of her head a dirty look.

“Shut up, Lindsay, we need a coach and he’s willing to be one!” Samantha snapped, long legs stretching to propel her to the front of the pack. “And he’s easy on the eyes too!”

Leslie inhaled sharply as Ben Wyatt’s head lifted in the middle of the field. Beside her, Shauna started giggling and Sam cackled loudly.

“You’re embarrassing him,” Leslie murmured. Their new coach couldn’t hate them after one day, not if they wanted to keep playing this season.

“Believe me,” Sam called over her shoulder. “That’s very low on the list of things I’d like to do to him.”

Ann pulled a face and Ben started walking to meet them.

“Uhhhh, hey, how about less talking and more running, guys...ladies...team!”

Sam snorted and Shauna giggled again as they turned another corner. Leslie felt Ben Wyatt’s gaze heavy on her as she bit the inside of her cheek and moved to keep up with the rest of the group.

*****

Marlene set a bowl of salad in the middle of the table. Leslie crinkled her nose while Ann helped herself to a generous portion. Good, Ann could eat the stupid salad; Leslie was as healthy as a horse anyway.

“Leslie, you’re seventeen years old, I shouldn’t have to tell you to eat your vegetables at this point.”

Leslie grumbled something under her breath and added a few leaves to her side place before taking a big bite of pasta and swallowing. They’d run ten laps and then spent the rest of the hour doing fielding drills and she was beat. Half of the girls had collapsed on the field when it was done and even Leslie was ready for bed.

Not for sleeping, just for being supine.

Ann would want to sleep, but Leslie had plenty of political documentaries to keep her company when her best friend did so.

“Well? How was he?”

“Coach Wyatt?” Leslie played dumb. Marlene rolled her eyes.

“No, Leslie, the other new softball coach I had the school board approve for you.”

Her presentation had been  _ very  _ convincing. There’d been lots of flowcharts and cartoons making valid points about girls in sports and team-building being important for character.

“Good! He’s very...focused. We did a lot of basic drills, but…”

“Eighty percent of the team thinks he’s hot,” Ann piped up. Leslie flinched and lowered her eyes as her cheeks flamed. Not her, she didn’t think Ben Wyatt was hot. No, sir. He was a professional and dedicated coach, and former teen mayor who was easy on the eyes, like Shauna had said. 

But that was just objectively speaking. 

“He’s cute,” Marlene agreed and Leslie cringed in response. “He got so flustered in my office when I started grilling him, but then he turned quite...confident. It was...intriguing.”

Marlene shrugged and cackled and Leslie felt her eyes bulge. Dear god, please let her mother not have hit on Coach Wyatt. For the love of all that is good and pure, please let her mother -

“I didn’t  _ do anything _ , Leslie. He’s just a puppy, isn’t he?”

_ Ew _ .

“He was...kind of a hardass,” Ann clarified. “But it was nice to do some actual drills for a change instead of trick plays that won’t help us win.”

Leslie agreed and took another bite of food.

Exactly, Ben Wyatt was a good coach and that was all that mattered.

*****

“His  _ butt _ in those pants,” Cindy gushed the following weekend. Coach Wyatt was doubled over his gym bag, pulling out his glove and a few balls. Leslie could obviously appreciate his ass, but what was really catching her attention right now we're the muscles flexing in his forearms as he moved.

“Alright,” he stood and surveyed them. “Are we warming up today or just gabbing?”

“Gabbing?” Lauren lifted an eyebrow. “How old  _ are you _ ? Seventy?”

Ben pulled a face. “Let's go, get moving. I've got some more fielding drills and -”

He was cut off by a chorus of exasperated groans.

“Fielding drills? Again?”

“Well, apparently you need them.”

“But I'm a catcher!”

Ben rolled his eyes and barked “let's go”. Reluctantly, everyone stood up and started trotting around the field. Their coach joined them, and Leslie watched everyone's pace slow considerably to let him pass. Lauren pointed excitedly as his toned, sexy ass, and Shauna blushed and grinned.

He spun around, brow creased, and told everyone to pick up the pace. The girls started giggling and barely increased their speed. The annoyance was apparent on his face, so Leslie decided to follow directions, sprinting forward to lead the pack, lungs straining for oxygen. When no one else attempted to keep up, Ben stopped dead and spun around. Leslie did the same.

“Uhhhhh, did everyone forget how to run today?”

The girls started snickering and Leslie stopped too. Ben clapped his hands aggressively.

“Fine! If you don’t want to run laps we’ll do some suicide drills instead.”

Everyone groaned and scuffed their feet along the gravel as Ben ordered them towards the center of the field and grabbed some pylons.

Nobody talked about how cute his butt was after that practice.

*****

“Everything huuuuuuurts,” Cindy whined, stretching her long, tanned legs out and flopping back on the plush carpet. Lindsay’s bedroom was massive, with plenty of space for all of their sleeping bags. Ann reached for a beaker of water and downed a few more mouthfuls. It had been a hot day and Leslie’s skin felt all wrung out from the hour they’d spent in the sun that afternoon.

“God, he’s kind of the worst.” 

“How many line drives does he expect me to get a game?” Sam pouted. “A million? It feels like a million.”

“My hand is cramping,” Cindy whined. “He kept trying to show me how to change my grip and...he’s knows it’s  _ softball _ , right? My hands aren’t as big as his, I can’t reach the seams like that!”

Leslie shut her eyes and willed herself not to think about his long fingers. Yes, he was kind of being a hardass, but their first game was in two weeks and she really wanted to win. She was also not afraid of a little hard work. 

"What position did he play before?”

“Shortstop.”

“Oh god,” Sam flung herself upright as Leslie’s eyelids snapped back. “And he hasn’t even sank his teeth into Leslie yet.”

She shuddered for some reason at those choice of words.

“Next week, he said,” Lauren crossed her legs. “When he was yelling at me to suck less because  _ my shortstop is depending on me _ he said he’d be working with Leslie next week.”

Her heart fluttered and her mouth went dry. One-on-one time with Coach Wyatt sounded amazing...for her game. Not for any other reason than for her game.

“He...did he?” her voice went up an octave and Lauren groaned.

“Leeeeessslie, nobody’s that cute. Brace yourself, he’s about to put you through the ringer. And then you’ll be bitching as much as the rest of us.”

“But,” Leslie held up her hand. “Maybe we’ll actually win some games this year? Since we’re doing things and working hard? Also, he could totally just phone it in and not help us at all, but he’s actually trying which is nice and important and...why are you guys afraid of a little hard work!?”

Everyone’s eyes landed on her and Leslie’s face grew hot.  Lindsay reached for the bowl of popcorn.

“See if you’re still saying that when he’s been on you hard all day, Les.”

Ann pinched her leg as she swallowed a tiny yelp that had risen in her throat.

After that, Leslie’s cheeks burned for the rest of the night.


	3. The Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading and leaving comments and kudos. This story is so much fun to write and I'm so glad people are enjoying it! 
> 
> I hope everyone is having a nice long weekend :).

“Hi Ann, this is Leslie Knope, your best friend. I have something to tell you, please pick up your phone.” 

...

“Ann… I really,  _ really _ have to tell you something and it’s more important than sleep, so please pick up your phone.” 

…

“Ann, you beautiful antelope, you don’t need sleep to steal the hearts of - ”

“Leslie,  _ it’s 3AM! _ ” 

Oh, no, she sounded annoyed. Leslie listened to her best friend take a deep, cleansing breath. “Sorry, I’m sorry. I was having a good dream. What’s up?” 

“Patrick never showed.” 

“Oh god, Les, I’m so sorry,” Ann sighed. “What a dick; I’m going to cancel with - ”

“No no no no, listen, listen. I don’t care about Patrick.  _ Guess _ who I saw at the bar!” 

“Who?” she could hear Ann crinkling her nose. 

“ _ Coach. Wyatt _ .” 

A weird, shrieking noise escaped from Ann. 

“Are you  _ serious _ ?” 

“I was getting martinis on the house and then he said my name and...he looks even hotter,” Leslie groaned into her pillow. “Arrrrrgh, he’s so sexy. Even sexier than high school and I’d know what to do with him now - ” 

“Ohhhh boy, okay. Did you talk to him?” 

Leslie started laughing uncontrollably, borderline hysterical, and only stopped when Ann called her name for the fourth time in a row.

“Les -”

“We made out.” 

“Oh. My. God,” Ann gasped. 

“Uh huh,” Leslie curled her legs beneath her on the bed. “We talked for a while and then I told him I had a crush on him and he grabbed my face and we made out and then he walked me home.” 

“You made out with Ben Wyatt?” 

“Uh huh.”

“Les... _ how was it _ ?” 

“Amazing. He’s a really good kisser and he kept touching me and he gave me his coat -  _ I’m still wearing his coat, Ann _ !” 

She was. The rain had chilled her to the bone and she was probably going to take a hot bath in a few minutes, but right now staying surrounded by the smell of his aftershave was even better. 

“Wow. Are you going to see him again?” 

“He’s the Assistant City Manager now!” 

“He’s your  _ boss _ ?” 

“My... _technically_ my boss’s boss.” 

“ _ Leslie! _ ” 

“I know! I know! God, isn’t that the hottest thing you’ve ever heard? Assistant City Manager - he’s basically the Vice President of local government.” 

Ann groaned. “Leslie, no.” 

“He is!” 

“Fine, but….surely, this...can he date you? Would you have to disclose it to HR or something?” 

Crap. She hadn’t even thought about that. Ohhhh no, oh god, oh god...

“ _ I made out with my boss, Ann _ !” 

Her beautiful best friend grunted and Leslie could hear the yawn in her voice. “Les, I’m exhausted. Can we talk about this tomorrow - ”

“I’m never going to be able to - ”

“See what he does. Just play it cool. Maybe he’s already thinking about this too.  Ben will know the rules of City Hall more than you will at this point.” 

Okay, that was true. Ben would know what needed to happen and if they could see each other again...maybe, if he wanted. And if he didn’t, his loss, and if he did they would be great together, and if - 

“Leslie, stop spiralling and go to sleep. Or at least let me go to sleep.” 

“Sorry,” Leslie sighed. “Sleep, I’m sorry.” 

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Ann promised. “I love you, goodnight.” 

Leslie returned the sentiment and hung up with a sigh. Wait until Monday and see how Ben played it? How was she supposed to ever sleep again? 

***** 

“Sweetheart, relax.” 

Leslie smoothed her sweaty palms over the front of her slacks and took a few deep breaths. Easier said than done. Her mother had driven to City Hall separately, but made a point to meet Leslie in the parking lot to direct her towards the conference room where orientation would be held. 

And Leslie was ready, armed with her own orientation binder and ideas for projects. She’d even spent an extra twenty minutes doing her hair in preparation for her ID badge photograph. 

“I am perfectly, completely relaxed in every sense of the word. It’s just my dream job.” 

_ And on Friday I made out with the Assistant City Manager and I’m supposed to follow his lead, according to Ann.  _ As predicted, Leslie had not slept much at all over the weekend, both because she was excited for her new job and nervous about seeing Ben. 

What if he told her the kiss was a huge mistake and could never happen again and he hated her now? They’d only kissed once, but she’d liked him for a really long time before Friday, and to have a taste of it ( _ him _ ) and have it taken away would probably be the worst thing ever. 

A redheaded woman with a clipboard greeted them and Leslie was directed to the front row of the meeting room. There were no murals, a projector sat at the back, and the wooden chairs were all turned to face a white screen. A small man to her right was texting rapidly on his phone, a shimmery purple pocket square catching her eye. Leslie turned and smiled brightly. 

“Hi, I’m - ”

The man broke out into song and started bopping his head, eyes squeezed shut as his nasally tone cut through the otherwise silent room. It was then she caught sight of the small earbuds he was wearing. Leslie lowered her arm and shifted back to the front. The man’s name was stuck on the front of his padfolio instead of his lapel. 

_ Tom Haverford, Parks Department  _

Leslie squeaked and almost started chatting excitedly to her new coworker, but he hadn’t even opened his eyes yet.  A few more people filled the room, about half women and half men. Some were busy scribbling on their notepads, some were on their phones, and nobody else had brought a stack of idea binders.

Leslie did like to stand out. 

“Good morning, everyone, I’m Angelica Kowalski; I’m the Director of Human Resources. I’ve been working for the City of Pawnee for the last...” she trailed off as Leslie raised her hand. 

“Yes? Questions?” 

“I was just wondering when we would be given the opportunity to pitch our projects, I have  _ so many _ ideas - ”

“Why don’t you save that for your department heads tomorrow.” 

“I thought it would be really nice if we could have a brainstorming session with other departments - ”

Angelica Kowalski pursed her lips.

“Leslie, today we’re just going to be going over standard policies, dress code, sick days, medical leaves; things of that nature.” 

“Oh,” Leslie shifted a little. “Okay, well...” 

“Let’s start with a departmental overview,’ she continued brusquely and clicked on her powerpoint, indicating to the flow chart. The bubble of happiness in Leslie’s chest shrunk a touch when she noticed Parks and Recreation way down at the bottom. 

And her coworker still hadn’t taken out his earbuds completely. 

*****

The morning was full of sitting still and paying attention, which Leslie was usually good at. Today, however, she was antsy to get going and no one seemed keen to let her. At lunch she sat with Tom, who continued texting through most of it and said he’s got  _ at least eight girls in his pipeline right now _ . 

Okay. 

It was just about time for an afternoon break, according to a very droll Angelica, when the door to the meeting room was pushed open and Ben Wyatt appeared. Leslie’s heart stalled and her mouth turned very dry. He was wearing a small, checked dress shirt and a black suit and his tie was striped and ridiculous. It was just the sort of thing she’d come to expect from him. It was just the sort of thing that would make her wonder what he looked like out of it. 

Leslie recalled him showing up to softball practice in various band and comic book character t-shirts. 

“Uh, am I too early?” 

“No no no,” Angelica, the woman, waved at him. “Come in, Ben. Everyone, Ben Wyatt is our new Assistant City Manager. He works for Paul and has experience in budget management and local government and he’s a great addition to our team. He wanted to meet all of you today.” 

Ben’s eyes found Leslie and his mouth curled, Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed. Leslie had a feeling it wasn’t all of them he wanted to meet and the very notion of that made her shiver. 

“Uh, hey,” he held up a hand. “Nice to see everyone...welcome to Pawnee’s city government.” 

Angelica, who seemed significantly more chipper now, appeared to bat her eyelashes at him. Leslie’s stomach churned. What if Ben was in the habit of flirting with and making out with all kinds of City Hall employees and former teammates, and Leslie was just another notch in his makeout post…

Although, to be fair, he wasn’t really looking at Angelica at all. His eyes kept darting to Leslie and her neck grew hot under his gaze. 

“Ben’s going to give us a brief introduction to life at City Hall and then he’ll be taking a few questions any of you might have for management.” 

This was her chance, this was her forte. Leslie always had questions for managers. Leslie had never not been able to come up with a question on the spot... but as soon as Ben started speaking and her eyes started focusing on his moving lips she went blank. 

Question after question, and Leslie couldn’t even lift her arm off the armrest.  

Ben smiled sideways in her direction and asked “Any other questions?” at the end of the session. God, he wasn’t even sexy, he was  _ beyond _ sexy. He was fielding inquiries left, right and center with an ease and confidence that made her insides burn. 

“Okay, then, should we do the tour?” 

Angelica looked surprised and murmured something in his ear. Ben shrugged and nodded at the door. 

“I have some time. Let’s do it.” 

The group filed out and Ben stayed in the middle of the pack, brushing off more questions as Angelica guided them through the halls and did a horrible job pointing out  _ any  _ of the murals. Leslie would’ve been a much better tour leader. 

“Is she not even going to tell us about the Wamapoke Massacre?” Ben’s low voice murmured a few minutes in. Leslie squeaked so loudly that heads turned and Ben shot her a funny look. 

Crap, she needed to get it together. 

It was when they were on the fourth floor and Leslie wandered off into archives that Ben appeared again, alone. 

Okay, maybe she’d been hoping he’d follow her. 

“Hey. I know you know your way around this place, but there’s only one elevator that works and it takes twenty minutes to get back up here. You really don’t want to get stranded on the fourth floor, there’s a lot of...confiscated weaponry.” 

Leslie giggled, but as Ben stepped closer she froze completely. 

“How was your weekend?” he continued, like he hadn’t had his tongue in her mouth. “Or, well, the rest of your weekend.” 

“Good! Great! Fantastic! I did my laundry and laid out my clothes and didn’t think about what happened between us at all because we were kind of drunk, so unless you - ”

“O-oh,” Ben scuffed his shoes. “I uh...thought about it a lot, actually. I had fun with you, and not just the…” 

He swallowed and his voice dropped to a whisper. “The...kissing you, but in general.” 

Leslie’s heart started to pound in her chest and she took a step towards him. “Me too.” 

“And uh, I...I would...argh, okay, listen - ”

“We could grab dinner and talk about it!” she blurted out cheerfully, the bubble of happiness growing again. “If you wanted.” 

Ben winced. Uh oh.  

“I don’t think we can, actually - ”

“But you  - ”

“There’s a rule, Leslie,” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Interoffice romances are not just frowned upon, but more or less forbidden. I asked Paul this morning. And I’m just getting good at this job and you’re just starting, and as much as I enjoyed what...I don’t think we should go out. Not because I don’t want to, because I don’t want you to get in trouble.” 

“Oh,” Leslie slumped her shoulders and the back of her throat was instantly tight. Ben liked her but didn’t think they should date - of course. “Okay, well then very nice to see you,  _ Mr. Wyatt _ ,” she stuck out her hand and Ben shook hesitantly. 

“Leslie - ”

“I better catch up with my group!” 

“Leslie...”

She sprinted through the fourth floor before Ben could notice the tears burning the corners of her eyes. 

*****

He was right, of course. This was Leslie’s dream job and she didn’t need to become involved in a scandal in her first couple of weeks, all for a handful of dates that would probably go nowhere. They never went anywhere, so why would Ben be any different just because she’d had a crush on him at seventeen? She’d had a crush on  George Stephanopoulos when she was seventeen and that had gone nowhere too. 

It was a very responsible, adult decision. Her career was the most important thing right now and Leslie knew that. 

Her first two days after orientation were fairly straightforward. She met her department head (a surly libertarian who had no interest in her idea binders,) and finally moved into the parks department. She added inspirational women to the wall of her new office, despite Tom’s protests that none of them were “hotties”, and avoided Ben Wyatt completely. 

Not that she was mad at him or anything, she just had no reason to search him out. 

Leslie was alphabetizing her binders on her first Friday at City Hall when a voice she wasn’t expecting interrupted to ask about her color-coding system. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey!” she shuffled around her desk quickly. “Hi! _Mr. Wyatt_! What can I do for you?” 

“Uh,” Ben furrowed his brow. “I just came to see how your first week was going.” 

“Amazing!” she lied. It was fine and she was settling in, but what good was her dream job if nobody cared to hear her ideas? 

“Good,” Ben’s answering smile was warm and gentle, like that night at the bar. Leslie was very grateful Tom had gone to talk to IT about his computer. 

“So, are you wowing them yet?” 

“Of course!” 

“Ron Swanson was open to your suggestions?” 

“He has been a huge support and I have  _ so many _ ideas...” 

Ben arched an eyebrow and Leslie squirmed. 

“Really?” 

She sighed and lowered her gaze. “No. That’s not true at all. Nobody wants to hear my ideas.” 

“Right,” Ben bit his lip. “Well, my last meeting was cancelled and I’d like to hear them.” 

Leslie stared at him. “You...what?” 

“JJ’s? For a very important idea-discussing and waffle-eating session?” 

She laughed softly to keep the butterflies at bay, and grabbed her coat. 

***** 

“I know it’s silly,” she admitted as she pushed whipped cream around on her plate. “But I really thought I’d be able to make a difference early on and nobody even wants to talk to me about what I think.” 

Ben sat back, the red vinyl shifting under his weight. 

“Government...it’s easy to stagnate. Nobody wants to rock the boat.” 

“Well…” Leslie threw her fork down with a clatter. “Sometimes the boat needs to be rocked, Ben!” 

His eyes slanted downward and his mouth curved upwards. 

“I totally agree.” 

“Thank you.” 

“You’ll get there,” he murmured softly, as he scooped up a bite of his omelet. “I know you will, just be patient.” 

Ugh, when had Leslie ever been patient. 

“That’s what you said to me when I was at the plate,” she suddenly remembered. Ben smiled. 

“You always swung half a second too early because you always wanted to clobber it.” 

“I did not!” 

“You did. They moved in whenever you were up to bat and you wanted to show them,” his lips twitched cutely. “I remember, Knope.” 

Leslie smiled at the memory, but her heart still felt heavy. She couldn’t impact anything at work and the cute guy she wanted to spend time with wasn’t allowed to date her. 

“I just...want to  _ do something _ .” 

Ben rapped his fingers on the table and motioned to their server. Leslie blinked. 

“Are we - ”

“We’re going.” 

“Oh.” 

“I wanna show you something.” 

*****

It was dark by the time they got to Ramsett Park. Most people had gone home, but a few still lingered on benches and paths, walking dogs or, okay yes, littering. Ben grabbed her by the elbow and steered her down a bend in the road, stopping at a small, broken down fountain, its contents more algae than water. The surrounding trees needed trimming, there wasn’t a birdfeeder in sight, and the lawns were definitely not manicured. 

The beady eyes of a raccoon pattering across a walkway made Leslie shudder. 

“Think you can do something with this?” 

She wanted to. She wanted to pay for parks maintenance, install the birdfeeders herself and initiate local wildlife walking tours. She could fix the pond and refill the sandbox and maybe even host an event here once she cleaned up the place. 

For some reason, that brought a lump to her throat. 

“I...y-yes.” 

Ben stepped a little closer, his warmth cutting the chill. 

“You have big ideas, I know you do. But, right now what Pawnee parks need are some TLC. So maybe you start there.” 

Leslie squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. She wanted the parks to smell like parks, not pollution; she wanted families to bring their children to play on the jungle gym and not worry if it was safe or not. She wanted more trash cans and maybe a small snack stand, and…

Ben was right, big ideas could wait. 

“I can do that.” 

Leslie wasn’t sure who made the first move, but suddenly Ben’s fingers were tangled through hers and his thumb was rubbing the back of her hand. 

“Of course you can, you’re Leslie Knope. You’re the only person in the world who didn’t think Ice Town was a total failure, and if you can put a positive spin on that you can do anything.” 

Leslie laughed as their palms pressed more snugly together. 

“I predict by the end of next summer these parks won’t even be recognizable. And then we can start working on your big ideas. And you will have the support of the city manager’s office by then, I promise.” 

Leslie grinned and neither of them moved to let go of the other. 

She hoped he was right. 

Actually, she sort of believed he was. 


	4. The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This chapter was being very problematic. I hope you enjoy it! Comments and kudos are amazing and thank you for continuing to leave them - you guys are the best <3.

“Told you he was gonna ride you hard this week, Les,” Lauren cracked her neck, the red vinyl of the JJ’s booth screeching through the movement. Sam’s long legs were stretched underneath the table to rest on an empty chair across the way and she nudged Leslie’s thigh with her toes. 

They’d just finished practice and true to Ben’s word, he’d spent a lot of time focusing on her...

And standing really close and smelling like cinnamon. Not that she was paying attention to stuff like that. 

“I don’t think Leslie cared he was riding her hard. I think she wants to ride him - ”

“Ewwwwwwww, he’s old. Wait for college boys. They’re the right kind of mature. He’s like an actual grown up. He probably signed some  _ I swear I won’t be a pervert and hit on teenage girls  _ claus. My dad said they put him through the ringer.”

Leslie winced as she imagined the types of questions her mother would’ve asked him during the vetting process. 

“Plus, you think he had sex with your mom - ”

“He did not have sex with my mom!” Leslie shouted so loudly all of JJ’s stopped talking. Her cheeks flamed and she went back to pushing waffles around on her plate. “My mom wouldn’t put the moves on my softball coach.” 

“Are you sure? Ohhh my god, what if one morning you woke up and he’s just there, in your kitchen, asking why you aren’t at the batting cages?” 

Leslie cringed as Shauna added, with a conspiratorial giggle, “Wearing a flower housecoat or something...”

“Ewwwwwwwww,” all of them, except Leslie, in unison. Ann rubbed her shoulder gently. 

“He didn’t sleep with your mom.” 

“I know.” 

“What if he asks you to start calling him  _ Daddy -  _ ”

Leslie flung a lemon wedge at Sam who snatched it out of the hair and shoved it between her lips with a grin. 

“I’m just teasing you,” Sam’s eyes softened considerably. “And hey, for what it’s worth, you were kicking ass and taking names during fielding practice. We might actually win a game this year.” 

That thought made Leslie smile. Winning wasn’t everything, of course, but it would be nice do something interesting this season and Ben Wyatt seemed determined to get them there. 

And whether he was  _ riding them hard  _ or not, a win would be worth it. 

*****

“Uh, hey,” a shadow appeared over Leslie and she lifted her eyes from her book and glanced up, Ben’s lithe form casting her in darkness. His duffel bag was on his shoulder and a stack of pylons were secured under his arm.

“Hi!”

“You’re early.” 

“My mom needed the car; she dropped me off,” Leslie glanced at her watch. “You’re early too.” 

He shrugged, flopping on the grass beside her. “So, since we’re getting close to our first game I thought I’d go through some actual plays and strategies before you guys showed up. The Tigercats look good - ”

“We have to beat Eagleton,” she blurted out. Ben cocked an eyebrow. 

“Uh...okay?” 

“If we only win one game this year, please let it be against Eagleton.” 

“Are they our rivals or something - ”

“They’re the worst people in the world, they are evil incarnate and deserve to be mauled by raccoons!”

“Wow,” Ben’s mouth twitched and something inside Leslie’s stomach tugged. Was he making fun of her? Why did he look so cute doing it? 

“Okay, so we better get ready for Eagleton,” he patted her shoulder gingerly. “You wanna help me set up?”  

Leslie hopped to her feet.

One by one, the rest of the girls started to arrive. It was Sam Leslie noticed first, tossing her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder and batting her eyelashes, shorts rolled up higher than was decent. When Lindsay arrived it was the same story, skimpy shorts and a lot of wiggling. Leslie’s neck felt hot on Ben’s behalf as he tried not-so-subtly to avert his gaze. 

“What are they doing?” she hissed at Ann. 

“Messing with him,” Ann shrugged. She had clearly opted not to partake in the game. 

As practice went on Leslie found herself watching him. 

She watched him tell Ann to widen her stance a little bit and gesture, but never touch. She watched him show Sam something in a notebook as she pushed out her breasts. His cheeks went a little pink, his brow furrowed and he stepped back, telling her he thought she had it. Sam grinned and Lauren cackled. 

Lindsay pushed up against him while he was handing her a bat and Ben spun so quickly he stumbled backwards. The girls kept giggling and Ben jumped up, dusting off his butt amidst their hysterical laughter. 

He rubbed his neck and barked something about more batting practice and did they want to win or just goof around. 

When he called Leslie up to the plate she averted her eyes and Ben seemed to be on pins and needles waiting for her to do something. 

Instead she just avoided making eye contact with him and swung the bat as hard as she could. 

“He’s so cute,” Shauna gushed, but Leslie frowned. Lauren rolled her eyes. 

“Chill out, Les; we were just having a little fun.” 

“By making him uncomfortable after he  _ volunteered  _ to coach us and without him we - ”

“ _ Wouldn’t even have a season _ ,” the rest of the team finished in unison. Okay yes, she might have stated that a few times, but  _ it was true _ .

“We were just having some fun, trying to see if he’d loosen up at all.” 

“Don’t be such a goodie goodie, Les.” 

Leslie sighed.  

*****

“So, uh, what are you reading?” Leslie looked up at the familiar shadow and smiled behind her sunglasses. It was a warm day, almost too warm to do much of anything, but she’d been looking forward to practice all week. 

She hadn't really been conscious of her excitement until now, but now she was here and couldn't wait to get going. 

“Wuthering Heights.” 

“You like it?” he threw his bag down and pulled out his glove. Leslie shrugged. 

“It’s okay, I guess. It’s for English class.” Normally she loved books, but for some reason this one just wasn’t grabbing her. 

“Yeah, I never liked it much either,” he tossed a ball at her, which Leslie grabbed, barehanded. “So, tell me something, Knope.” 

“What’s that?” 

“Does everyone on the team hate me?” 

Leslie gasped. “No! No no no, we’re so appreciative of you coaching us and not...not at all. We don’t hate you at all!” 

He arched an eyebrow. 

“Because it feels like they do, it feels like they’re...trying to get me in trouble or something.” 

“No, no no, I swear. Please don’t quit. They’re just...giving you a hard time because...” 

“Because?” 

There was a glint in his eyes when he said it and Leslie giggled. “You are kind of being a hardass.” 

Ben’s face fell just a little. “Oh.” 

“In a cute - good! In a good way!” 

His frown stayed in place. “Oh...should...I mean...I’m...am I?”  Ben scrubbed at his cheek. “I just...thought you guys wanted to win.” 

“We do, but we want to have fun too. Well, I want to win. I don’t know how much the rest of the team cares, to be honest. I’m just - ”

“Competitive.” 

Crap, he totally had her number already.  

“But...right,” he bit his lip. “You’re not having fun.” 

“I am!” she added quickly and jumped up. “I am, I swear! You’re a great coach and we so so so appreciate you doing this. Maybe just...be less intense?” 

He caught the ball easily when she lobbed it back at him. “Okay, I can do that.” 

When practice ended an hour and a half later they were all soaked to the bone, including Ben, who’d thought it a good idea to break out water balloons on a particularly muggy day. Sam was cackling so hard she couldn’t breathe, Ann was wiping tears from her eyes and Leslie’s stomach ached.

Her favorite part had been when one slipped from Ben’s grasp and smashed right into his face. 

“I’ll see you next week,” Ben held up a hand and waved. They all called their goodbyes to him and he caught Leslie’s eye as she turned towards the parking lot, winking. 

Right at her. 

Her heart definitely skipped a few beats and her face burned as Ann linked arms and guided them towards her car. 

*****

“ _ Before you make love, take a bath together _ ,” Shauna read, a dreamy expression on her face. “Use candles and rose petals - wow, that sounds so nice.” 

Sam leaned back on the carpet, her legs up on the bed, and yanked the latest issue of Cosmo out of Shauna’s hands. 

“It sounds lame,” she drawled. “ _ The combination of scents and warm-water sensations will completely prime your bodies _ ... oh, gross.” 

“It’s romantic.” 

“It’s gross,” Sam handed the magazine over to Ann who snorted. “ _ As you're moving up his shaft with your mouth, turn your head a bit from side to side, letting your tongue follow a corkscrew pattern _ .” 

Sam licked her lips and Shauna’s cheeks tinged pink. Leslie lowered her eyes and Lauren wrapped an arm around her. 

“ _ Start by kissing with your eyes open _ ...ugh, why?” Ann chucked Cosmo back and Lindsay snatched it up. 

“ _ You can actually use your breath to control your orgasm. With each exhalation, imagine that you're pushing the satisfying sensations throughout your body _ …” Lauren continued. Leslie must’ve pulled a face because Ann frowned and Lindsay held up a hand. 

“Guuuuys, enough, you’re making Leslie uncomfortable.” 

“I’m not uncomfortable - ”

“Sweetie, it’s okay. A lot of people never even  _ have _ an orgasm - ”

“ _ You’ve never had an orgasm _ ?” 

Shauna squared her shoulders and bit her lip. “It’s not that big a deal,” she assured Leslie sweetly. “I’ve never had one either - ”

“Wait,” Sam held up her hands. “Hold up. Like...never had a guy give you one, or never  _ had one _ ?” 

“Well, it’s not from a lack of trying!” Leslie snapped. Sam gawked and Lauren rubbed her neck. 

“Les, it’s really not a big deal. It’s very...you’re in your head a lot.” 

“Right, yes,” Ann clapped her hands. “You overthink and this is one of those things where you just...can’t.” 

She’d tried. Oh lord, she’d tried. She’d read sexy romance books and definitely felt all squirmy as her panties flooded and her breathing started to increase. She’d rewound scenes with lots of moaning in movies to the same effect...she just couldn’t  _ quite _ get there. The build up was so much it was overwhelming and she couldn’t push herself over the edge. 

She tried to tell the girls this and to be fair, they did understand, but their suggestions were unhelpful. 

_ Just don’t think about it _ , was the consensus, with Lindsay suggesting she find a man to give her them until she could fend for herself. 

“Vibrators help,” Shauna tried shyly. She’d had an orgasm, just not from somebody else. Leslie leaned into Ann as the conversation veered in another direction, thankfully. 

They put on A League of Their Own and forgot all about Leslie’s orgasms, or lack thereof. 

The next night, when she was alone in her own bed, Leslie closed her eyes, breathed deeply and tried mash all the sexy things she could think of into one amazing, orgasm-inducing fantasy. 

She ended up frustrated with tired fingers and a sore clit. 

*****

It was two days before their first game, their final practice, and Leslie was definitely nervous. 

And early. Her mom had needed the car again and she’d been dropped off twenty minutes before it started, as Ben was arriving. 

“Hey, Knope,” he smiled crookedly and her stomach fluttered. “How was your week?” 

“Hi,” she gulped. “It was great! Really great! How was yours?” 

“Good,” he threw down his bag. “Busy. I thought we’d just take turns letting everyone hit and then we can play some positional stuff and...what do you...do you think that’ll be fun enough?” 

“I think that sounds great.” 

He was pulling out his own glove and some balls when Leslie practically shouted at him. 

“I followed your campaign!” 

Apparently she’d been bottling that up for weeks, but every time she caught his profile, Leslie was reminded of a newspaper article she’d kept on boy mayor, Benji Wyatt. 

Ben stood, slowly, his flat, sexy butt clenching and his shoulders hunching. He turned to face her. 

“Oh.” 

“The...I followed your campaign! Your mayoral...the…” 

“The only campaign I ran and will probably ever run?” 

Leslie’s heart sank. “I’m sorry - ”

“No,” Ben pinched his brow. “No no, don’t be sorry. I’m...sensitive about it still I guess. That was a rough year; they ran me out of town. All my friends...my girlfriend...it was a shitty year in general,” his lips twisted. “Why was a ten year old from Pawnee, Indiana following my campaign anyway?”

Leslie blushed. 

‘I’m...I’d like to run for office one day and I was making campaign ads and you were in the news, so…I was so jealous of you.” 

“You should really not have been, it basically ruined my life. I took a job in accounting because I can’t do anything in politics anymore without - ”

“My dad had died a few months before, so I was basically jealous of everyone, and then you were doing things and trying things and I was so...I so wanted to be you.” 

For some reason, tears started building behind her eyes and she blinked them away rapidly. “I...I thought it was really cool.” 

“Oh,” Ben dropped his glove and reached out an arm to squeeze her shoulder. He wasn’t all that close, but he was near enough she could smell cinnamon again and the faintest hint of menthol. His hair looked a little damp, probably from his morning shower, Leslie reasoned. “I’m...really sorry about your dad.” 

“Thank you. It was a long time ago.” 

A car door slammed behind them and Ben stepped back as Leslie swiped at her eyes. 

“And that sounds like it’ll be a great practice.” 

“Cool,” Ben reached for his glove. “Let’s rock ‘n’ roll then.” 

Leslie snickered in response and Ben grinned just a little. 

***** 

Ben smiled, the same way he had that afternoon, but it took him much longer to get there, like his cheeks wanted to drag it out or something. They were lying in her bed, his body pressed flush against hers and one hand cupping the back of her head. 

Their lips brushed lightly and Ben’s smile widened as Leslie’s pulse started to race. Why were they here? In her bed? When had that happened? 

“I missed you today.” 

She might’ve said she missed him too, but it didn’t feel like her lips were moving. Ben rubbed his nose against hers and kissed again, harder, his free hand gliding down her body and between her legs. 

His long fingers pushed inside her and Leslie gasped against his tongue. It was hot and tasted like cinnamon. Leslie moaned and pushed her hips up.

In a blur of lights and color they moved, and suddenly she was on top of him, totally naked now and his dick definitely inside her, even though she couldn’t feel it. She rode him hard, palms pushing onto the planes of his chest and little moans escaping her throat as her knees slid against the silk sheets (why were her sheets silk?). The warmth turned to burning, her insides clenched, and Ben’s hands slid up to her breasts. 

“That’s my girl,” he cupped her hips and Leslie slammed down harder. She cried out and Ben tugged her mouth to his as they both groaned. His hips pushed and she burrowed her face into his neck, whimpering. 

“That’s my girl,” he repeated. The burning blossomed from her center and Leslie started to tremble. A loud bang startled her eyes open and the eerie blue light from seconds earlier faded into total blackness. 

Leslie was on her back, alone and coated in sweat. 

A dream. 

She let her eyes fall shut as her breathing levelled. The area between her thighs was throbbing and a ball of something was lodged in her chest. 

Holy crap, she’d just had a sex dream about Coach Ben Wyatt. 

An awesome sex dream and she was aching in the truest sense of the word for more. 

Licking her lips, Leslie slid her hand under her pajama pants and brushed her thumb over her swollen clit. The heat was back and her fingers were instantly sticky, but all she could see was the blue glow of the moon from her dream and all she could taste was cinnamon on her tongue. 

It was small, and fairly unexceptional, she would learn later, but she definitely came, hips bucking and nerves pulsing as wave after wave rolled through her. 

She moaned into her pillow and slowly removed her hand, rolling onto her side and dozing off, peacefully. 


	5. The Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. I hope you like this next chapter! 
> 
> And I so so so appreciate anyone taking the time to leave me comments and kudos. I know it's summer and everyone's busy, but they totally make my day. <3 
> 
> Enjoy!

“How’s it going?” Ann crossed her tanned legs at the ankle and stabbed a leaf in her salad. Leslie started to prattle on about new parks projects, bird feeders and cleaning up the rivers (all of which Ron and the City Manager’s office had approved) when Ann held up her hand.

“I meant with Ben.”

Leslie stiffened. The truth was she had no idea how to answer that question. They’d hadn’t been alone together since that night at the park, but every time she saw him her heart still fluttered. In some ways, she wondered if she’d dreamed it - dreamed him kissing her at the bar and making her feel a lot of things.

“It’s...professional! Benness - business as usual!”

Ann rolled her eyes. “Leslie - ”

“It really is, Ann. Nothing’s happening. He’s being nice to me, but nothing else.”

“But he likes you and you like him and it’s a stupid rule and surely you’re not the first people in government history who’ve wanted to date. There must be a way around this.”

“I’m just settling in,” Leslie exhaled. “I’m finding my feet and trying to do some good and the last thing I need is a sex scandal right now.”

Ann’s lips twitched at Leslie’s choice of words.

“Dating a guy you like is not a sex scandal, Leslie. Having a foursome in a cave is.”

Leslie giggled and ate a french fry. Ann checked her phone.

“Well, you running into Ben gave me an idea, so Friday night we’re having dinner with the team, okay? Minus Lindsay of course, since she’s a traitor to this country or something - ’’

“She went to Eagleton, Ann!”

“Right,” Ann shifted in her seat. “So we’re all going to this Italian place and I already booked the table and we’re going to have like...a team reunion dinner.”

“Oh…” Leslie brightened prospect of that. “Friday?”

“And then we’ll go to Snakehole for karaoke and dancing and it’ll be great...”

“Hey, Leslie,” a voice she was all-too familiar with startled her and when she turned Ben was there, hair messy and eyes warm. His stupid brown eyes were always warm which made her feel warm and it...was not a good combination.

“Hey...Ann.”

Ann jumped up quickly and held out her arms. They hugged, a little awkwardly, which Leslie was honestly grateful for. Because Ann was single and the most beautiful woman in Pawnee and Ben could easily date her and not worry about a thing.

Which would be totally within his rights, of course, since he was available and not seeing anyone right now.

When Ben pulled back he turned to Leslie again. “So...we have that meeting later, right? Ron’s not going to try and find an excuse to get out of it?”

Leslie giggled because Ron was totally going to want to find an excuse, but she wouldn’t let him.

“Alright so, I’ll...see in you a bit - see you in a bit,” his cheeks colored. “Right, so...nice...talk to you...later, Ann!”

He spun on his heel and disappeared through the doors to the courtyard. Ann’s eyes were wide and her grin too up her entire face.

 _“Wow_.”

“Wow, what!?”

She shoved playfully and Leslie went back to her fries. She had a feeling she knew what Ann was _wow-ing_ about.

*****

“Uh, hi,” the next day they had another meeting, but Ron was taking his sweet time getting ready and Paul was delayed so it was just the two of them.

Leslie and Ben just the two of them.

Leslie and Ben who had made out and then agreed they would stop doing as much even though they wanted to because it would be bad for both of their careers. Leslie and Ben just the two of them, who kept exchanging glances Leslie hoped she wasn’t imagining...because whether they could date or not she wanted Ben to _want_ to date her.

Selfishly, of course. There were plenty of beautiful, available women in Pawnee who wouldn’t jeopardize his new career.

“How...do you want coffee or something?” he indicated to the pot resting on a counter and Leslie shook her head rapidly. Paul was a coffee addict and always brewed it into a thick sludge and never had whipped cream on hand.

“No, thanks.”

Ben sort of smiled, but his jaw seemed tense.

“Oh, by the way your Operation Parks Beautification binder somehow made it’s way onto my desk,” he smirked at her. “Any idea how that might’ve happened between yesterday and now?”  

Leslie batted her eyelashes innocently and gave an easy shrug.

“I think the Operation Parks Beautification binder just really wanted to be on your desk. It wants you to give me more money.”

“The binder does.”

Leslie giggled. “Yes.”

“Right,” his lips twitched and then he sighed. “We have a problem?”

“You didn’t like my proposal?”

“I loved your proposal,” he heaved his shoulders. “And you worked really hard on it and you’re great and your ideas are great, and…”  

Leslie didn’t know if she was supposed to be hot under the collar at the way his eyes darted over her, but she certainly was. She shifted on the balls of her feet.

“Ben - ”

“I can’t stop thinking about you in a non...work-related way.”

Okay, now she was definitely sweating. Ben rubbed his forehead.

“We can’t.”

“I know we can’t,” he sighed. “But I want to.”

“Me too.” She understood that feeling. Every time she saw Ben she wanted to see more of him, preferably in less clothing. That very notion made her cheeks flame.

“But we can’t.”

“Right.”

“Our careers are too important and you just got your job and I just got mine and the last thing we need is …” she trailed off as Paul pushed into the room with a clatter and half hearted apology for keeping them waiting.

“Where’s Swanson?”

He rolled his eyes when Leslie informed him Ron was _in the middle of something_.

“I’ll get him. Don’t start without us.”

Leslie’s eyes darted back to Ben and her heart started to race.

“We can’t.”

“We can’t,” he admitted sadly. “At least not right now anyway.”

She had no idea what he meant by that, but he sounded as disappointed as she did.

*****

On Friday night Leslie got attacked when she appeared in the entranceway of the restaurant.

“Leeeees!” Sam, still tall and leggy and as beautiful as ever, practically tackled her to the ground. Lauren jumped her next and Shauna gave a shy little hug as they all squealed their hellos. They were seated at a large table at the very back of the restaurant. The lights were dim, the music was hip without being too loud and every dish smelled amazing.

It was nice to be back with everyone. It had been a long, stressful, sexually-frustrating few weeks and she’d needed this.

Leslie slid into a seat beside Ann and was quickly scolded.

“No, Les, sit here,” Lauren pointed to the empty chair beside her.  
  
“You always see Ann, sit over here and talk to me,” Lauren smiled brightly, hazel eyes golden in the dim light. “How are you? You look awesome.”

“You look _killer_ , Les,” Sam called, and a few more girls murmured their agreement. Leslie started to say the blouse was Ann’s, but then wondered why her appearance seemed to be the focus of the group.

Drinks were ordered, the conversation turned to work and then relationships, and Sam flashed the diamond on her finger, her smile uncontrollable. Leslie was halfway through her first glass of wine and contemplating her ravioli options when a hand landed on her shoulder.

“COACH!” Lauren jumped up at the same time Sam did and soon everyone at the table was on their feet, hugging Ben and shouting things at him. It took Leslie a while to get a good look at him, but he was definitely there, in a simple button down with small checks and black slacks. Ben ordered himself a beer and settled into the empty chair beside Leslie she’d been paying no mind to.

“How...who  - ”

“I did!” Shauna called, cheeks tinged pink as she leaned closer to Ben. “Ann told me you were both working at City Hall and I thought what’s a team reunion without our coach!”

Ben smiled and leaned towards Leslie.

“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“You look great,” he gulped audibly and accepted his beer from the waitress. Leslie’s eyes darted across the table. Ann winked.

Son of a -

“Leslie?”

“Yes!”

She turned to Ben and her eyes felt like they were bulging out of her sockets.

“Sorry. I’m sorry, do you want me to go?”

“No! No, no, this isn’t weird at all.”

Ben arched an eyebrow and took another sip of his drink, saying nothing else for the moment.

*****

“Hey Wyatt, remember that game against Eagleton?”

Ben smiled as Leslie stabbed a ravioli with her fork.

“I remember somebody turned a double play.”

Her cheeks flamed. Okay, Leslie. Leslie had done that. Ben had swung her up and hugged her tightly and it was the lightest she could ever remember having felt.

“Are you still dating that girl?”

Ben blinked at Lauren’s question, as if he couldn’t remember the tall brunette who came to most of their games and let her hand wander down to his butt when she thought no one was watching.

Or, possibly, when she knew everyone was watching.

“Who?”  
  
“That hot girl.”

Ben continued to stare ahead blankly and Leslie whispered low in his ear.  

“Monica.”

“ _Monica_?” Ben gawked. “Good lord, no, we broke up, like...two months after the season ended.”

“So you’re single now?”

The color rose in Leslie’s cheek and Ben licked his lips.

“Yes.”

“Innnnnteresting,” Sam waggled her eyebrows and the table slowly went back to talking about their most exciting softball moments. Ben turned to Leslie.

“So, how was the rest of your week?”

“Good!” Leslie smiled, even though her heart was pounding and Ben still, definitely smelled like cinnamon. Her response was almost Pavlovian at this point - smell cinnamon, get wet panties.

“Great, actually. I’m really enjoying it, and you’ve been a great help, and so has Ron, and...it’s been great and I can’t wait to start Operation Parks Beautification now that I got you to give me my money.”

He laughed softly and murmured something about her being persuasive. His fingers moved under the table and brushed her knee briefly. “And you remembered Monica when I didn’t.”

Leslie’s nose crinkled.

“I was sort of jealous of her.”  
  
“Oh,” Ben bites his lip and tilts his head. “Yeah?”

“I told you; I had a crush on you.”

“Had.”

Her lips twitch and Ben’s twitch right back, cutely, making her stomach flutter. `

“Well, I have a crush on you...and I know we could get in trouble, but I have not been able to stop thinking about you for days, and - ”

“Would you like another?” The waitress gestured to Ben’s empty beer glass and he gave a curt nod and thanked her quietly.

“We’re going out after this too,” Shauna called.  “You’re coming, right Ben? For dancing and karaoke?”

He smiled down the table.

“Sure. Sounds great.”

Leslie did not miss the look Lauren shot her at that.  

******

Sam’s arm found Leslie’s elbow as soon as they perched at a table in the Snakehole. They were the first to arrive and Ann was in the bathroom.

“Dude, are you _fucking him_?” She asked, a distinctive glint in her eyes. Leslie shook her head rapidly.

“He’s my boss.”

“ _Oh_ ,” she bit her lip. “But you want to be fucking him.”

Leslie blushed and Sam shrugged.

“It’s no secret. You’ve been wanting to fuck him for ten years.”

“I have not!”

“You super have and now he wants to fuck you too; he hasn’t stopped staring at you.”

“He... “ that made her grin even as she lowered her gaze. “He’s my boss, so nothing can happen.”

“That’s a dumb rule.”

“That’s what Ann said. But,” she wrung out her hands. “I just started there and I’m trying to get settled in and be a good employee and create positive change and - ”

“Sucking your hot boss’s dick is a positive change - ” Sam erupted in laughter as Leslie smacked her and giggled.

“Stop.”

“He’s so into you, you can see that, right? Also, _what_ was his hand doing under the table at dinner?”

“Touching my knee.”

“Gross,” she grinned and Leslie mirrored her just as the rest of their group pushed through the door. Ben included. He was talking to Shauna who seemed to be leaning into him a little more than would be expected and whose dimples were in full swing and...

Oh no. Was she flirting with him? Did he give her a ride? Were they going to go home and make babies or...

“Oh my god, stupid Main Street,” Christine threw up her hands. “I swear, this town is going to be the end of me.”

Ben nudged her and promised it wasn’t so bad.

“I mean, we have a really great deputy director for parks and recreation now. Wait until you see what she’s going to do.”

Leslie’s face felt like it was on fire as Ann returned from the bathroom and Ben offered to buy a round.

“I’ll help you,” Shauna called brightly, sashaying behind Ben up to the bar. While they waited for the drinks they chatted and Leslie’s blood started to boil as Shauna kept smiling at him with her head tilted. She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

“Leslie, it’s nothing.”

“What’s nothing?” Lauren spun as Shauna’s nimble fingers grazed Ben’s arm. “Uhhh, that was something.”

“I’m missing something. What am I missing?” Cindy Miller appeared out of nowhere, still tall and brunette and gorgeous, but Leslie barely tore her eyes away from Shauna and Ben.

“Why's steam coming off of Leslie?”  

“Shauna’s hitting on Wyatt and Leslie can’t do anything about it because he’s her boss.”

“No,” Ann slapped the table. “No no, listen, Leslie works with him and he’s her boss, but before that she ran into him at a bar when she was being stood up and they made out - ”

Shrieks interrupted Ann and paper napkins came flying at Leslie.

“You _made out_?”

“Um…” Leslie gulped and Ann continued.

“At the bar and then _at home_.”

“You took him home!”

“To your mom’s house? Oh my god, did you - ?”

“No!”

“She wants to be.”

“Dammit, Ann!” Leslie rubbed her forehead. “And I can’t be because he’s my boss and we could get in trouble.”

“Okay, first of all,” Sam gestured towards the bar where Ben was looking slightly uncomfortable and Shauna was swaying into him. “That needs to get shut down. I can’t take any more of her desperation flings.”

“Yes,” Lauren agreed. “Shut that down.”

“I can’t, we can’t,” Leslie slumped into her hand. “I can’t date him, so if she wants to and he wants to and they want to go make beautiful babies then - ”

“Uhhhh, no, not okay, plus he keeps looking back for you.”

Ann wound an arm around her and patted her shoulder.

“Leslie, you guys will figure it out. He’s not into Shauna and she’s being dumb because he clearly is into you.”

Leslie knew that, she did, but it was hard to wrap her head around it when Shauna was pawing at him.

It was Sam’s hands on her shoulders that sent Leslie in the direction of the bar.

“See if they need help,” she called after Leslie whose legs started to move towards him of their own volition. The timing was perfect, he was just depositing three beverages into Shauna’s hands and asking her to take them to the table.

“More hands,” she wiggled her fingers at Ben and he grinned crookedly, in a way that made her stomach twist.

“Take these,” Ben passed her a few beverages and their hands brushed and lingered.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough for now.

*****

Leslie cackled as Ben tried to demonstrate a ball-holding grip on some crumpled up napkins. Ann and Lauren had disappeared to dance the night away and normally Leslie would’ve joined them, but Ben hadn’t strayed far from her side and his body was warm in a comforting way, not the sweaty, sticky way the room was.

“That’s too hard,” Sam pouted. “We have smaller hands than you.”

Ben chuckled, reaching for Leslie’s wrist without asking and trying to adjust her grip to mirror his. As Sam had stated, her fingers were too short and couldn’t quite stretch far enough.

“See!” Sam gestured frantically like it was the most important thing in the world. She may have been a little drunk. “Leslie’s hands are small, she can’t do what yours do.”

Leslie’s stomach definitely dropped at an innuendo she wasn’t certain Ben was supposed to get. He threw the napkin aside and pressed his palm against Leslie’s, lining up their fingers.

“Your hands are small,” he said quietly, like it was meant only for her.

“You knew that,” she teased even though her heart was in his throat and every cell in her body was buzzing with need. In the dim lights his eyes were dark, almost black, and his lips were plumped.

Ben’s fingers curled around Leslie’s as they pulled away and he gave her hand a little squeeze before releasing.

“Ben, do you want to dance?” Shauna suggeted cheerfully. She wasn’t much of a dancer either, but she was definitely drunk and definitely flirting.

He was fumbling through an answer when Sam and Cindy decided they should all dance. Ben was yanked into the center of the room and Ann linked arms with Leslie and soon the flirting was forgotten, work crushes stopped existing, and all Leslie could think about was the delicious, alcohol-induced haze, good music and colorful lasers.

Until her bladder decided to interrupt her.

“I’m going to the whiz palace,” she shouted at Ann, pushing through a group of men and heading to the back corner. The women’s bathroom was mostly empty for a change, so Leslie didn’t have to wait her turn. As she washed her hands she studied her reflection in the mirror, the scent of overly perfumed soap filling her nostrils. The lights were bright, even though one kept flickering, and it was obvious her cheeks were flushed and her makeup was smeared. Her hair, once smooth curls, was now a frizzy disaster and her top had the traces of something pink down the front.

She was a mess but she was happy mess, even if she couldn’t make out with Ben like she wanted to. It was fun to see everyone and she was glad he was there. She was glad Ann had thought to plan this and hoped they would do it again soon.

Big hands found her waist as soon as Leslie stepped back into the hallway and she yelped and almost cried _murderer_ before she was spun to face Ben and his arms pulled her into his chest.

“Hi,” she arched into him as his hands carded through her hair, breathing ragged.

“Hey.”

“Shauna’s flirting with you,” it came out before Leslie even realized she’d been wanting to bring it up. Ben, eyes impossibly darker now, shrugged.

“Weeellll, I’m not flirting with Shauna.”

“Who are you flirting with?”

Ben chuckled and tightened his hold on her, ignoring the question.

“Apparently I’m taking you home.”

“You...what?”

“Ann’s getting a cab and she asked if I could take you. Walk you since it’s close and you like walks, and…” he bit his lip. “Can I walk you home?”

“Ben - ”

He cut her off with his mouth on hers. It was a light kiss, a slightly sloppy pushing of lips that never parted. Leslie smiled, her drunken stupor making it too hard to resist him. She wanted to kiss Ben, she wanted his hands holding her back and his nose bumping hers.

Leslie had no idea how long they stayed like that, but with each passing second her insides burned harder. They didn’t kiss much, but occasionally their lips would brush and she couldn’t have stopped smiling if she wanted to.

“Can I walk you home?”

“Yes.”

She had no idea what was going to happen when they got to her house, but if Ben Wyatt’s lazy kisses were any indication it would be something unforgettable.

Crap, her boss. He was her boss. They couldn’’t be kissing drunk in the back of a bar. He couldn’t be walking her home.

“We shouldn’t do this.”

“No,” Ben swallowed hard. “We shouldn’t.”

“I want to.”

Their lips pressed again and she swayed into him, whining when he pulled away. Apparently they had both decided they were doing it anyway. When they returned to the bar Sam was leaving and Lauren was getting a ride and Cindy’s boyfriend had showed up.

“Leslie, do you want to split a cab?” Shauna asked cheerfully, eyes darting to Ben. Ann patted her back.

“Come with me, you live right down the street, it’ll be cheaper.”

Shauna started to frown and Leslie gave Ann a grateful look. Coats were grabbed and more hugs were exchanged, along with promises to _do this again soon_.

And then they were alone, Leslie and Ben, on a crisp fall night without a cloud in the sky. He reached for her hand as they started strolling and their fingers tangled together.

“I can’t believe you were jealous of my girlfriend when I was twenty-four.”

Leslie laughed and stepped closer to him.

“I was seventeen and irrational. What do you want from me?”

Ben didn’t answer, but his thumb ran along the inside of her palm.

“So,” Ben hesitated. “Here’s the thing,” their forearms pressed together. “That was a weird year for me, adjusting to a new state and everything and seeing you was...always a favorite part of my week. Whenever I talked to you I felt like maybe Ice Town wasn’t the end of the world and...I maybe also thought you were cute.”

Leslie stopped dead and her lips spread into a slow grin.

“You did?”

“Uh, yes. In a not...totally appropriate way,” he tightened his grip on her hand. “So...yeah. Sorry, I mean...I’m sorry, I guess? The parts of me that had a crush on you didn’t know you were only seventeen.”

Leslie laughed loudly as Ben’s mouth found her hair.

After that they walked in silence, but nothing about it was unpleasant. Leslie leaned into Ben and he dropped her hand, wrapping his arm around her instead.

When they got to her house Marlene’s car wasn’t in the driveway.

“My...my mom’s still not home,” Leslie frowned and reached for her phone. “Oh, ew, her date went well and she’ll be back in the morning probably.”

“Ewwww,” Ben pulled a face. “That’s...TMI.”

Leslie giggled and fumbled with her keys. “Thank you for walking with me. Do you want to come in and wait for a cab - ”

He kissed her hard, pinning her to her front door, his tongue teasing her mouth open as her knees buckled and his arms slid under her. Leslie groaned and pulled on his neck, urging him deeper as her foot hooked around his calf.

“You should come in,” she breathed as she watched his hands slide over her waist in the porchlight.

Ben looked like he was thinking too hard about something - okay, about something very specific and important - but Leslie just wanted him to keep kissing her. She tasted beer and sugar, and groaned at the way his body pinned hers.

She jangled her keys and brushed her mouth over his and Ben gave a quick nod, jaw slack and gaze heavy. Leslie spun, hands trembling as she pushed the key into the lock and finally go the door open.

She didn’t wait for Ben to take his shoes off, simply grabbed him by the hand and pulled him upstairs to her bedroom. Her childhood bedroom with her childhood bed, where she’d spent more than a few nights thinking about him. Ben rubbed her shoulders a few times before helping her out of her coat.

“Can I take my shoes off now?”

Leslie giggled and nodded, turning on the light and throwing their jackets onto a chair. Ben took note of her quilt, handmade of course, as Leslie fidgeted nervously in a corner.

When he made way to her wall of photos she caught the smile on his face.

“This is a good one,” he gestured to a shot of their team, arms around each other and grinning wildly. It was right after a weekend tournament they’d managed to win and Leslie was kneeling in the front row beside the trophy. Ben stood in the back, between Sam and Cindy, lips tugging upwards but not showing any teeth.

Real life Ben turned and cupped her face in his hands, seeking out her lips again.

“Do you want anything?” she whispered. “Water or anything?”

He chuckled into her mouth and kissed her harder, following when she sat on her mattress and kissing her back into the pillows.

“We shouldn’t do this, probably,” Leslie protested meekly one more time, just as much to herself as to him. She wanted to do this, though. City Hall rules be damned.

“Probably not,” Ben admitted.

“But we’re still gonna right?”

Ben groaned and dropped his forehead to hers. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she flicked her tongue against his lower lip. “Get the lights.”

If her mother did come home in the night she didn’t want her thinking Leslie was still awake. Ben whined in protest, but got up long enough to flick the switch and chuck off his shirt before helping Leslie remove her own clothing. It was a strange, unceremonious way of getting naked, but then they were and Ben was crawling back on top of her and kissing down her neck.

“You’re sure you’re sure?”

Leslie growled, pushing Ben beneath her and straddling his hips. He groaned as she ground down against him and his hands moved up to cup her breasts, rolling a nipple between his thumb.

“You should stop talking and sex me, Coach.”

It was Ben’s turn to growl and flip them, biting his way down her chest and sliding his fingers between her thighs.

“You got it, Knope.”


	6. The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting! 
> 
> You have no idea how much your comments and kudos mean to me. Thank you so much for leaving them <3.

The gravel crunched beneath her feet as she paced back and forth between second and third. They were the home team and the Tigercats were going over their batting lineup. Coach Ben stood beside their bench where Shauna sat at attention waiting to get called in. 

Ben wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to place so he would rotate them, of course. He was an excellent, fair coach. 

And kind of...easy on the eyes too. 

She’d had another dream about him. 

This time they’d been somewhere dream Leslie had identified as his apartment. Everything about it had been dark - the wood, the sheets, the drapes - and she’d felt so exposed spread out against his mattress. She’d been naked and very aware of it and Ben had kissed for what felt like ever and used his fingers to…

And she came again after she woke up, more easily this time, with waves of pleasure rolling through her. 

It was getting hard to look Ben in the eye.

But today wasn’t about that, or Ben’s sharp jaw and light scruff, or the way he pursed his lips when he was focusing too hard on something. Today was about winning. 

Ben gave her a little smile just before the umpire called for the game to start and her heart palpitated long before the pop fly came right at her. 

****** 

Leslie shrieked when Sam tackled her in the outfield after she trotted back to catch the final out. 

They’d won. 

It hadn’t been pretty and it had been by the skin of their teeth, but they’d won. Lauren lifted her up and Ann and Marissa jumped up and down and Cindy looked like she might do a cartwheel right along the first base line. Ben barked at them to come and say good game to the Tigercats and they did, but it was hard to keep the exuberant smiles off their faces. 

“Alright, pizza’s on me.”

They piled into Giovanni’s twenty minutes later, ordered three large pepperonis (and one small Hawaiian for Ann and Cindy because nobody was perfect). Leslie had somehow ended up squished beside Ben in one corner of the booth, his thigh bumping hers every time either of them moved. 

Her breathing sounded labored to her own ears. Smelling him did not help keep thoughts of her dreams at bay. 

“You guys did great,” he called down the table. “We definitely still have a lot to work on, but - ”

“Boooooo,” napkins were hurtled in Ben’s direction and he groaned, but Leslie could definitely spot the smile playing on the corners of his lips. 

“It’s our first game!” 

“Just let us haaaave this,” Lauren pouted. “Just until the next practice, let us enjoooooy this.” 

“Fine,” Ben snorted. “You did everything perfectly. You’re the supreme softball team of all the universe...” 

Everyone rolled their eyes and Ben reached for a slice of pizza. 

“Also, I think we need another pepperoni.” 

“Now you’re speaking my language, coach.” 

***** 

Sam stretched her long, tanned legs out on the chair in front of her. She was as beautiful as Ann and five inches taller, which only seemed more apparent in a skimpy bikini with her hair piled on top of her head. Beside her, Ann was under an umbrella, covering her face with a magazine and half asleep. 

Lauren, Marissa, Lindsay, Shauna and Cindy were in the pool. It was Sam’s parents house and they were gone for the weekend. Her older brother was supposed to be home to keep her company, but he was sleeping at his girlfriend’s, apparently. 

“He’s such an asshole,” Sam clucked her tongue. “I can’t believe he has a girlfriend.” 

“He’s cute though,” Lindsay supplied. 

“Ewwwwwww. Don’t make me vomit. You should smell his room.”

Shauna crinkled her nose underneath her oversized sunglasses. 

“Do you want us to sleepover?” Leslie offered gently. Her mother didn’t leave her alone too often, but when she did the house felt too big and creaked loudly and she ended up checking behind every closed door for axe murderers before bed. 

“Noooo,” Sam licked her lips. “I think...okay,Ryan might be coming over...” 

“ _ Ohhhhhh _ .”

Ryan was a college freshman Sam had had a flirtation with the year before. She’d gone to prom with him and they’d hooked up and dated all summer, only to end things when he went to college. 

Ryan was definitely very, very hot. 

Not as hot as Coach Wyatt, but how many of those could there be in one city? 

“That’s so great! Just don’t let him - ”

“It’s not a permanent thing,” she reassured Lauren. “It’s totally temporary. Just like last time.” 

Leslie discreetly reached out a hand and Sam’s fingers closed around her own. As nonchalant as she was playing it off now, she’d cried for weeks after Ryan had broken things off. 

“You’re sure?” 

“It’s fun,” she shrugged. “I need some fun, I want some fun. I haven’t liked anybody in ages.” 

Lauren pulled herself out of the water and wrapped a towel around her shoulders. 

“Boys are so dumb sometimes.” 

“They really are,” Ann agreed. “Like, what’s up with Andy? All he cares about is band except when he wants to make out. Are we dating? I don’t think he even knows.” 

“But you like making out with him.” 

Ann shrugged, even though her cheeks tinged a little pink. 

“He’s not a terrible kisser.” 

Lauren giggled, piling onto the lounge chair with Sam, even as she whined it was too hot for sharing. 

“What about you, Leslie? Who are you into?” 

Her cheeks flamed as she pictured Ben’s face. 

“No one in particular.” 

“Yeah riiiiiight, no one,” Cindy flicked water at her. “I know that faaaaaace, Knope.  You’ve got a cruuuuush.” 

“No, no no, I really don’t.” 

“Who isss it? 

“No one. I swear.” 

“Leeeeeslie.” 

“It’s no one,” she bit her lip. “I was just thinking about Dave.” 

If Dave’s name was Ben and he had giant, messy hair and a sexy butt. 

Dave had dated her for a few months a year ago, before he moved to San Diego with his family. 

“Awwwww, you miss him,” Marissa slung an arm around her and squeezed. “Sweetie, that’s okay.” 

Ann sat up on her elbows, wide awake now. 

“You miss Dave? Since when?” 

“Since...always!” Leslie blurted out. Ann arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow and murmured something about needing lemonade. 

“Les, come help me.” 

Leslie ran after her before the rest of the girls could ask any follow up questions. 

“Spill,” Ann demanded as soon as the screen door closed. 

“Spill. What do you - ”

“Spill your secret. What are you hiding?” 

Leslie glanced around the kitchen as if someone would magically apparate right behind her. Ann rolled her eyes. 

“Who are you thinking about - and don’t say Dave.” 

Leslie sighed. She didn’t even know what to call him. Saying she had a crush on Coach Wyatt sounded so childish, but she’d never called him  _ Ben  _ out loud. 

She did. Then, for the first time, and instead of looking scandalized Ann just appeared confused. 

“Ben? Who’s Ben?” 

Leslie gulped. “Um...Coach - ”

“Coach  _ Wyatt _ ?” 

“Yes.” 

“You have a crush on him. Okay, that’s...not  _ that  _ big of a secret. I think a lot of the team thinks he’s cute and whatever. He’s not my - ”

“I had a sex dream about him and then I had an orgasm and it was my first one. And then I had another one a few days later and last night I had _ another one _ . Another sex dream and orgasm.” 

“Wow,” Ann refilled her lemonade. “You had an orgasm thinking about Coach Wyatt?” 

“ _ Yes _ .” 

“Was it a good dream?” 

Leslie’s mouth went a little dry. 

“So good, but now I can’t look at him without thinking about it, and…help me, Ann!” 

Ann started to giggle and Leslie did too. 

“It’s not fuuuunnnnny.” 

“It’s kind of funny.” 

Leslie whined and covered her face with her hands. 

“What’d he do?” 

“Fingered me and then we had sex. All the times.” 

“Oh boy.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

 

***** 

They won their next three games in a row. 

Leslie started always showing up a little early to practice and would spend the first few minutes helping Ben pull out equipment and discuss some drills they might be doing. There they would talk, mostly about school and sometimes about family and, on occasion, future ambitions. 

Ben knew Leslie wanted to be a history major and run for President one day. 

Leslie knew Ben secretly hoped there was an outside chance he could hold office again after he proved he was responsible. 

It was nice, spending those moments with him. He told her more about Ice Town, what he’d hoped to achieve. By the time his term as mayor was over he was so hated by Partridge he’d practically been run out of it. His older brother, who’d been living in Chicago at the time, let Ben stay with him for a year before he took his deferred acceptance to college. 

Leslie said it sounded like he had a lot of heart and zero knowhow, but his intentions were good. At least he tried something. 

Ben had said nothing in response, but his answering look was curious. 

Despite the new rule that no  _ constructive criticism  _ be offered during post-win pizza sessions, they did have room for improvement and they did get better. By the time their fifth game of the season rolled around, Leslie felt more ready than she ever had in her life. 

It was against Eagleton. 

Their arch enemy’s uniforms were brand name and tailored, their hair was all done (professionally) in matching buns and the team colors were pastel everything. They refused to drink water from the fountains, preferring to use their own bottled variety from the purest spring in Indiana. 

Eagletonians were the worst. 

In the last inning Leslie turned a double play that ended the game and had the entire team tackling her before she’d taken a step off the field. Ben grabbed her last, hugging quickly and congratulating her - and everyone - on an awesome win. 

It was their best game so far. 

By a mile. 

And Ben’s hug and her team being so incredibly thrilled made it all that much better. 

******

“Knope, didn’t you get my message?!” a voice shouted across the field. It was Saturday morning and Leslie was huddled under a tree in a torrential downpour that she was fairly certain was about to turn into a thunderstorm. Ben jogged up to her, keys in hand, his t-shirt plastered to his lithe, sexy frame. 

Practice was cancelled, obviously. 

“Uhhh, you got here super early, as usual,” Ben teased, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her out from under the tree. “As nice as it is out, I decide to cancel practice for today.” 

Leslie giggled, her whole body feeling lighter and warmer thanks to his closeness. Ben’s eyes softened just a little. 

“You didn’t drive, right?”

Leslie shook her head. 

“Let me get you home.” 

Raindrops pelted her skin and Leslie crinkled her nose and swiped the moisture off her face as they made their way to the parking lot. 

“How did you get here?” 

“I walked.” 

Even in the downpour she could tell he was rolling his eyes as he pushed her into his car, despite her meek protests. 

She was alone. In Ben’s car that also smelled like cinnamon. Ann was never going to believe this. 

“Th-thank you.” 

Her teeth were chattering and Ben blasted the heat as soon as he turned on the engine and set the car into drive. For the first few moments they’re completely silent. Leslie smiled over at him when they hit a light and Ben gave a little grin back. 

“You’re just on the other side of Ramsett Park, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Cool,” he changed lanes smoothly and his long fingers curled and uncurled around the steering wheel. Leslie shuddered, recalling the way Dream Ben put his hands on her. 

“You’re too keen for your own good, Knope,” he nudged her gently when she shivered. “I’m glad I came out to check on you - errr,” Ben’s cheeks tinged pink and Leslie flushed. “To check no one showed up anyway.” 

“You thought it would be me.” 

He chuckled. “I did, yes.” 

Leslie laughed, throat tight and stomach fluttering at the idea of Ben thinking about her and only her and wanting to make sure she was…

There was a small pink tube in his cupholder. Leslie frowned, noting the words  _ Maybelline  _ etched on the side. Was that a lip gloss? 

Why did Ben have that in his car? 

“You...you have a lip gloss in your car.” 

Maybe it was his sister’s. He had a little sister who lived in Minnesota but maybe she was visiting. Or maybe Ben had dry lips and it was some sort of advanced lip treatment for men that Brad Pitt used, or maybe - 

“Oh, yeah, that’s not mine, obviously,” he took a turn. “My girlfriend must’ve left it in here.” 

Leslie heart stopped beating. 

It had no right to. 

He was her coach, she was in high school and he was a grown up with a real job. Of course nothing was going to happen. Of course he would never have any interest in her. She was fantasizing about something she could never have. 

Even if he  _ didn’t _ have a girlfriend she’d been fantasizing about something she could never have, this just seemed to solidify it. 

Her insides twisted unpleasantly and she did her best not to make a face. 

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” 

Did that sound accusatory? She hoped not. Ben licked his lips. 

“Uh, yeah, it’s kind of new. Not that it would come - ”

“Not that you have to tell your players your sexual - relationship status!” 

Her face was definitely on fire and she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. 

“Uh...right,” Ben made another turn. “Well, yeah, I have...her name’s Monica.” 

_ Monica _ , she sounded pretty. She was probably lounging in a negligee in Ben’s bed, leafing through a magazine and waiting for him to return after he wrangled the dumb teenager who didn’t even think to check if practice would be rained out during a monsoon. 

She was probably pouting her perfect lips, lamenting the misplaced lip gloss and thinking about all the dirty things Ben would do to her when he got back. 

Actually no, she wouldn’t be leafing through a magazine, come to think of it. She was probably reading Shakespeare and a member of Mensa. 

“Leslie?” 

Leslie jolted, looking up and realizing they were on her street. 

“Which house?” 

“Oh,” she indicated to one at the end of the block. Her mother and father had purchased it so many years ago and except for taller trees and a better garden, it mostly looked the same. The garage door could use a fresh coat of paint. 

She didn’t know why that was bothering her so much now. 

“Thanks,” she grabbed her bag and threw the car door open, tears starting to burn the corners of her eyes for some strange reason. Ben stuttered a “you’re welcome” that was cut off by the slamming of the car door. 

Leslie couldn’t get inside fast enough. 


	7. The Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry for how long this update has taken. Things weren't jiving plot-wise and it stalled the writing process and then work was insane and yes, it is not in my nature to take over two weeks between chapters. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and commenting and staying with me. You guys are amazing and I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

It was the sound of front door and her name being called that startled Leslie awake. She groaned, head pounding and instantly very aware of her nudity. Her bed partner snuggled closer and kissed her neck as though it was the most natural thing in the world. 

She wanted it to be, honestly. 

“No getting up,” he pinched her hip. Leslie laughed, even though she was afraid to make a sound. Her mother called again and footsteps were loud on the stairs. Ben’s eyes snapped open and the color drained from his face. 

“Uh, shit.” 

Leslie nodded, slipping to the floor and quickly pulling on her robe. Despite the direness of the situation (and how badly his head must’ve been hurting) he groaned appreciatively and slid his hand down her ass. 

She swatted him away and hurried to cut off her mother. 

Marlene, whose cheeks were flushed, cackled. “Oh sweetheart, good night?” 

“Uh huh,” Leslie rubbed her forehead, considering how debauched she must look. “It was fun.” 

Leslie knew she was a mess. Marlene crossed the distance between them and kissed her cheek, squeezing her hands. 

“I was going to see if you wanted to grab brunch with us. I’m starving.” 

Ewwwwwww. 

Leslie shook her head rapidly. “No. I’m...I think I’ll stay in bed.” 

Marlene frowned and touched her chin delicately, studying her. “I’ll bring you an Advil and some water.” 

“I just took an Advil,” she lied. “Thanks, though.” 

Her mother patted her shoulder. “Alright. I’m going to change and head out. Let me know if you want something.” 

Leslie couldn’t get back to her room fast enough. She exhaled a sigh of relief when the door closed behind her. Ben was sitting up, hair everywhere and boxers gone from the floor. He bit his lip. 

“All...okay?” 

“Uh huh. She’s going to brunch.” 

Ben smiled, but sort of winced because he clearly had a headache, though Leslie imagined it was not as bad as hers was. She groaned and he stroked her hair, guiding her cheek to his shoulder. 

“Hi.” 

“Hey, good morning,” he kissed her temple. “How’s your head?”

“Mushy,” she sighed and he toyed with her fingers. 

“How uh...how was last night?” 

“Awesome,” she whispered into his mouth as the sound of the shower filled the room. Ben grinned. 

“Oh, yeah?  _ Awesome? _ ” 

He appeared a little uneasy and uncertain, but Leslie could not properly emphasize how happy she was with everything that had happened last night. It was everything she wanted, even if it did put her into a bit of a sticky situation professionally. 

Work wasn’t everything, right? 

“I never wanna move.” 

He kissed her knuckles and she melted a little more into him. 

“After your mom leaves,” he pecked her lips. “Do you wanna go to my place and...hang out?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“Yeah?” he grinned crookedly, pushing her hair off her face. “I’m uh, I know we could get into trouble, but I’m really glad we did this.” 

“Me too.” 

His grin widened. 

“Especially since Shauna was flirting with you.” 

Ben groaned and Leslie laughed. 

“Well, despite that, I think we should try and keep this quiet so it doesn’t get around work you’re sleeping with your boss.” 

“Probably. “ She didn’t love the idea of having to hide him, but sneaking around could be fun and being with him in any sense sounded just wonderful. 

Ben flicked a strand of hair off her shoulder. 

“Today I think we should just lay low and watch movies and…” 

His eyes darkened and Leslie was pulling him on top of her before he could say anything else. By the time Marlene’s bedroom door opened again he was nipping at biting at her neck, his fingers thrusting deeply inside her. 

“Leslie, are you sure?” 

Crap on a...

Ben’s hand stilled, but he didn’t pull away. 

“Y-yes.” 

“Okay, I’ll see you in a couple of hours - ”

“I might be at Ann’s!” 

A long silence hung between them. 

“Okay, just let me know if you’re home for dinner.” 

Leslie grinned as Ben’s lips pressed gently against hers. His fingers curled and she swallowed a moan. 

She definitely would not be. 

*****

“Tell. Me. Everything,” Ann demanded in the courtyard at lunch on Monday. The warm sun was heating Leslie’s skin, but inside everything burned hotter. She’d spent all weekend with Ben. All weekend in his apartment eating pancakes and making out and watching movies and cuddling. 

And she really wanted to go back there after work, but her mother was starting to get suspicious. For as much as she loved Ann, she’d never spent three full nights at her place before. 

Leslie had already told Ann everything, over the phone while Ben was in the shower Sunday morning and she’d been searching for some clean clothes to wear. His apartment was barren, and she recalled that being the first thing she declared and something about him needing a handmade quilt to  _ spice things up _ when Ann cut her off and asked if he had a nice penis. 

But now she rehashed every detail, paying special attention to the way Ben’s long fingers she’d stared at so often had pushed hair off her forehead while he made them grilled cheeses for dinner. 

“Hey,” Leslie spun at the low voice interrupting her gushing about how amazing Ben’s mouth was. Her cheeks flushed, because obviously it was Ben, smiling down at her and moving said-mouth. 

“Hey!” 

“We…so, I just wanted to give you a head’s up. Ron’s got a meeting with me and Paul later, but he’s already complaining about it so I told him if he wanted to send someone else to represent the department that’d be fine. It’s just reviewing your spending plan for the rest of the quarter. Nothing major.” 

Leslie’s eyes bulged. 

A meeting. A meeting with the city manager’s office that she was running? A meeting with Ben and Paul where they had to talk about important things that would determine how the rest of their programming for the year went? 

And he’s telling her this  _ now _ , when she has maybe an hour to prepare? Does he know her at all? She hasn’t even  _ started  _ a powerpoint yet, and she definitely won’t have time to burn a CD to go with it. 

Ann called her name in warning as Leslie jumped off the bench and started gathering her things rapidly. Ben seemed slightly horrified and Ann said her name again. 

“I have to go prepare!” she shrieked, adrenaline raging in her veins. A presentation to the city manager’s office. She lived for this stuff, she’d been  _ dying _ to start doing stuff like this. 

She was just hoping for maybe a month to prepare, not an hour. 

A large hand closed around her elbow and her racing heart stalled in her chest. 

“Leslie,” he murmured, voice low and sexy and sending her mind back to the night before. “It’s really not a big deal. You’ll do great.” 

Her eyes darted up and Leslie gulped at the way his slanted downwards. 

“You’ll do great,” he promised softly. 

She smiled as best she could and then ran towards her office as fast as humanly possible. 

***** 

Leslie’s hands were trembling just a little when she arrived at Ben’s apartment that night. Her mother had gone out again and okay, she probably shouldn’t be going over there but she wouldn’t sleepover and no one would be any the wiser. 

Her mother wouldn’t care, obviously, if Leslie had a new boyfriend. It was just  _ who _ the new boyfriend was that Leslie wanted to stop herself from having to answer. 

Ben  _ growled _ , he actually  _ growled _ when he yanked her inside, pinning her against his door and kissing her into for all he was worth. 

“You…” he nipped at her earlobe. “You were so...hot...today.” 

Leslie grinned and carded her fingers through his hair. She’d watched him lick his lips when she explained her spreadsheets over the sounds of a babbling brook, and she was pretty sure he swallowed a groan when she uttered the phrase  _ a river clean up initiative makes the most financial sense long term _ . Oh, she knew how to push his buttons. 

“Did Paul like it?” 

“He said it was great,” Ben lied as he nibbled down to her cleavage and cupped her waist in his hands. There was no way Paul had said that. Paul had told her it was fine and they’d consider her recommendations and that she was dismissed. 

It was sort of disappointing...or it would’ve been if Ben hadn’t called her a few minutes later to tell her how amazing she was and all the dirty things he wanted to do to her that night. 

All the dirty things he was going to do to her now. 

He pulled Leslie away from the door and plucked her jacket off as he backed her towards the couch. 

“Where are your clothes?” 

“I didn’t bring any. I can’t spend the night again.” 

He pouted, tightening his grip, and Leslie laughed. 

“Beeeen, my mom will ask who my new boyfriend is and I don’t want to have to lie.” 

He stepped back and arched an eyebrow. 

“You think your mom’s going to squeal on you and get you fired?” 

“Of course not!” 

“Then,” Ben dragged his thumb along her jaw. “Just tell her you’re with me?” 

Leslie hesitated. She so wanted to. She wanted to tell everyone she was sleeping at Ben’s and what an amazing kisser he was and how strong her feelings were already. These feelings had been building up inside her for a decade and now that she had an actual outlet for them they were erupting like wildfire. 

But it wasn’t that her mother would cause problems for them. It was more, Leslie was wondering what her mother would say if she found out she’d barely started her new job - a job Marlene had gotten her the interview for - and already sleeping was with her boss. 

Because that didn’t sound great, no matter how much she liked said boss. 

“I just…” she sat on the arm of the couch. “I just want to enjoy it. Just us right now. That’s all.” 

Ben smiled softly and rubbed her thighs. 

“Just us.” 

“Right.” 

He kissed her forehead and nodded. “Alright, that sounds good. Get naked, Knope.” 

She cackled when he ripped off her shirt and threw her down on the cushions. 


End file.
